Iberian schematic art is the name given to a series of prehistoric representations (almost always cave paintings) that appear in the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

, which are associated with the first metallurgical cultures (the

Copper Age The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in dif ...

, the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

and even the start of the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

).Garcês, Sara. ''The Prehistoric Rock Art of Portugal: Symbolising Animals and Things''. Routledge, 2024. 2. Its

chronology Chronology (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , , ; and , ''wikt:-logia, -logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It is also "the deter ...

is still a matter for debate, but it could span from the fourth up to the

first millennium BC File:1st millennium BC.jpg, 400x400px, From top left clockwise: The Parthenon, a former temple in Athens, Athens, Greece; Aristotle, Greek philosopher; Gautama Buddha, a spiritual teacher and the founder of Buddhism; Wars of Alexander the Great l ...

, overlapping, at its start, with Levantine Art and surviving marginally in some isolated regions during much later stages. Its main characteristic, and that which gives it its name, is the

schematic A schematic, or schematic diagram, is a designed representation of the elements of a system using abstract, graphic symbols rather than realistic pictures. A schematic usually omits all details that are not relevant to the key information the sc ...

, that is, a figurative style in which only the basic fragments of each figure are represented (eliminating all the rest); what's more, the representation is so basic that the graphic elements are converted into mere outlines, but without losing the minimal identifying features. In fact, the schematic phenomenon is considered somewhat more precise and problematic, and it is integrated in a wide movement which affects almost all of Europe and the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. It could be said that the schematic phenomenon has global dimensions, although each region, including the Hispanic, has its own, differentiating aspects.

The schematic phenomenon in the Iberian peninsula

Schematics in art is a concept linked to

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *American Realism *Classical Realism *Liter ...

(a figurative representation more or less faithful to nature, with concrete details which allow the easy identification of the figures), stylization (also figurative, but which accentuates certain details considered arbitrarily important, repeating and distorting them until they lose their real shapes), and

abstraction Abstraction is a process where general rules and concepts are derived from the use and classifying of specific examples, literal (reality, real or Abstract and concrete, concrete) signifiers, first principles, or other methods. "An abstraction" ...

(representations completely unconnected with reality which are associated with a philosophical symbolism and which, although they may unconsciously contain some real elements, such a link is not possible to prove). Even if one only takes the peninsular ambit into account, schematic art lacks uniformity, it spans quite a wide chronology and its geography is too wide, which makes its study difficult and makes it almost impossible to establish cultural phases or regions.

References

{{Commons category, Schematic rock-art from Iberian peninsula Prehistoric art Neolithic Spain Spanish art

The schematic phenomenon in the Iberian peninsula

See also

References